Poker is a favorite gambling game widely enjoyed and understood by generations of players. The rules are simple; payoffs are relatively immediate, and both skill and luck are rewarded. The game has been adapted to electronic casino-style gaming machines where it has enjoyed a fair degree of success; however, games now known to the art either minimize the extent to which the player can win by using skill and inflate the effects of random chance, making such games less attractive to experienced poker players than would be desirable, or maximize the effects of skill so that the inexperienced player had little chance to win and little incentive to keep playing. To attract the greatest number of players, a poker game should allow and reward skill, but should also allow an unskilled player to rely on luck for winnings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,619 to Wood et al. issued Feb. 9, 1999 for "Method for Playing a Poker Game" discloses a game machine using a 52-card deck to deal an initial five-card hand to a player. The player makes an initial wager. The player may then divide the cards dealt into one to five subhands by moving cards in any desired order, and moving several cards into the same subhand if desired. The game device allocates an amount of the initial wager to each subhand based on the number of cards moved into it. The game device then randomly fills out the subhands and pays the player in accordance with the value of the hands. This device does not require or allow the player to make decisions about moving cards after additional cards have been dealt, thus limiting the amount of skill the player can use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,873 issued Oct. 20, 1998 to Moody for "Method of Playing Electronic Video Poker Games" discloses a game in which at least two rows of cards, preferably three, are used and the player can wager on each row. Cards are dealt into a first row. The player chooses cards to hold from the first row, and these are duplicated into the other rows. Cards are then dealt at random to fill the rows and the poker hand ranking of the rows is determined. The fact that cards are duplicated such that a regular 52-card deck is not used interferes with the player's skill and ability to anticipate what poker hands can be formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,260 issued Mar. 16, 1999 to Marks, et al. for "Modified Poker Card Game and Computer System for Implementing Same," discloses a poker game in which the player is allowed to place each dealt card in a pattern of intersecting hands and the value of the resulting hands is determined. This game makes no provision for the unskilled player to rely on chance to determine the placement of his cards.
A number of patents allow the player to play only a single hand at one time, which, in providing fewer ways to win, is less attractive to most players. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,916 issued Oct. 6, 1998 to Moody provides a game in which only a single hand is dealt, but cards with matching values are stacked and replacement cards dealt. The value of the hand is determined using all the cards shown on the display screen. U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,669 issued Aug. 6, 1996 to Charron et al. for "Method and Apparatus for Randomly Increasing the Payback in a Video Gaming Apparatus," U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,504 issued Feb. 25, 1997 to Huang for "Electronic Wagering Machine," U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,843 issued Jun. 10, 1997 to Roberts for "Methods for Prop Bets for Blackjack and Other Games," U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,506 issued Jun. 30, 1998 to Marks et al. for "Video Poker Gold Card Game and Computer System for Implementing Same," U.S. Pat. No. 5,785,593 issued Jul. 28, 1998 to Wood et al. for "Method of Playing a Poker Game," U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,460 to Fulton for "Method of Playing a Poker-Type Game and Apparatus Therefor," U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,145 issued Dec. 22, 1998 to Stupak et al. for "Player-Selected Variable Jackpot Gaming Method and Device," U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,011 issued Dec. 22, 1998 to Lott for "Multi-Deck Poker Progressive Wagering System with Multiple Winners and Including Jackpot, Bust, and Insurance Options," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,882,259 issued Mar. 16, 1999 to Holmes, Jr. et al. for "Method of Playing an Electronic Video Card Game" disclose single-hand games. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,915 issued Oct. 6, 1998 to Kadlic for "Pick One Poker Method of Play" discloses a game dealing five hands, however, the player picks only a single hand to play.
The same undesirable feature of not providing multiple hands to the player to play simultaneously is shared by U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,101 issued Feb. 6, 1996 to Moody for "Poker Style Game" which discloses a game requiring a player and a dealer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,9124 issued Oct. 6, 1998 to Wichinsky for "Method of Playing a Stud Poker Game," discloses a game requiring two hands, but only one of these is for the player; the other is the dealer's hand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,621 issued May 26, 1998 to Marks et al. for "Modified Poker Card/Toumament Game and Interactive Network Computer System for Implementing Same" also discloses a game requiring more than one player.
Other patents disclose the use of multiple decks, thus limiting the player's use of skill in predicting cards likely to be dealt. These include U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,440 and 5,531,441 issued Jul. 2, 1996 to Dabrowski et al. for "Double Poker," U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,992 issued Jul. 7, 1998 to Wood et al. for "Method of Playing," U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,809 issued Sep. 8, 1998 to Yoseloff for "Method of Playing a Multi-Decked Poker Type Game," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,618 issued Feb. 9, 1999 to Netley et al. for Poker Game Method. In addition, Game King Product Brochure entitled "Triple Play Draw Poker" discloses a game using multiple hands, each hand drawn from a separate 52-card deck.
Multiple playoffs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,088 issued Jun. 17, 1997 to Schneider et al. for Multiple Events Award System" which provides a system whereby awards are provided to a player over multiple rounds of a game.
The use of multiple hands is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,855 issued Sep. 15, 1998 to Cherry for "Poker Wagering Game," however cards may not be moved between hands. U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,731 issued Nov. 24, 1998 to Feola for "Method and Apparatus for Playing a Casino Game" also discloses the use of multiple hands but does not provide for moving cards between hands.
Other casino games having electronic features include those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,766 issued Dec. 24, 1996 to Forte et al. for "Blackjack Game System and Methods," U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,817 issued Sep. 23, 1997 to Tarantino for "Casino Card Table with Video Display," U.S. Pat. No. 5,794,964 issued Aug. 18, 1998 to Jones et al. for "Apparatus for Progressive Jackpot Gaming," U.S. Pat. No. 5,795,225 issued Aug. 18, 1998 to Jones et al. for "Methods of Progressive Jackpot Gaming," U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,448 issued Jul. 2, 1996 to Moody for "Poker-Style Card Game" which deals with a combined game of twenty-one and stud poker, U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,082 issued Oct. 29, 1996 to Kaye for "Personal Computer Lottery Game," U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,081 issued Jan. 7, 1997 to Suzuki for "Card Game Amusement Device," U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,488 issued Feb. 11, 1997 to Kadlic for "Electronic Rummy Game," U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,753 issued May 20, 1997 to Fuchs for "Gaming Machine," U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,774 issued Nov. 11, 1997 to Webb for "Method of Playing Card Games," U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,800 issued Apr. 28, 1998 to Huard et al. for "Auxiliary Game with Random Prize Generation," U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,461 issued Oct. 13, 1998 to Pernatozzi for "Game for a Casino," and U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,325 issued Dec. 29, 1998 to Kadlic for "Method of Playing an Electronic Runmmy Game Apparatus."
A game is needed which will provide a single player with the ability to play multiple hands dealt from a single deck simultaneously, and which provides an attractive balance of rewards for both skill and luck by allowing the player to move cards between hands after the additional cards have been dealt.